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Waste management is one of those industries that people take for granted. A lot of cities have some sort of publicly-funded waste service, so most people don’t really think about who takes out their trash. But waste management is actually comprised of lots of small businesses, which often work together to service the needs of their city. So what does it take to get started in waste management? And is there still room in this industry for a new small business?

How do you get started in waste management?
Waste management and garbage disposal is actually so much more than the big trucks that drive through neighborhoods once a week. Anyone who offers to haul away garbage, waste, recyclables, or junk is technically a part of this industry. So really all you need is a DBA, a truck, the right licenses and insurance, and you’re ready to go. However, anyone who dumps in a landfill has to pay for the privilege, and if you manage a lot of waste, you should try negotiating a cheaper rate with your landfill – most offer a set, per-ton charge. Continue reading →

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Underwriting is a vital part of the financial and insurance industries. An underwriter is effectively the person that assesses risk, and determines the suitability of potential clients looking to avail of whatever service their employer provides, be it insurance, a loan, or capital. Underwriters have the responsibility of defining the terms within which the service will be offered. And, because of this, they are in very high demand. After all, without a qualified underwriter, lenders and insurance agencies would be lost. But how do you become an underwriter? And can underwriters work independently as a small business?

What do you have to do to become an underwriter?

Normally, you at least need a bachelor’s degree in finance, or another business-related field. Underwriters also have to be meticulous, detail-oriented, and thorough. Continue reading →

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Welcome to our weekly post on small business industry! We took a couple of weeks off for the holiday, but now we are back and ready to tackle S – Stockbrokers! The financial industry is notoriously complex, so starting your own, private brokerage firm can be a bit tough. However, with a bit of experience and all of the right qualifications, it can be done!

Are stockbrokers heavily regulated?
Yup! Independent brokers have to jump through loads of regulatory loopholes before they’re allowed to open their business. Continue reading →

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We are onto M in our series, and this week we are looking at the marketing and public relations industry. Marketing and PR is often seen as a hard industry to break into. There are a lot of rival firms – some big and some small – and new businesses often have trouble figuring out how to stand out. But with a good amount of experience, the right contacts, and enough work ethic, it is possible for a company to succeed in the growing marketing and PR industry.

What do you need to start a business in the marketing industry?

Most experts say that the most important factor to a new firm’s success is marketing experience. You need friends and contacts to really succeed. And while it is totally possible to build a successful business with no experience in the marketing industry, it’s really, really hard. There are a lot of lessons you learn about marketing and PR by working within the industry, and a major part of that industry is who you know. Networking is much more effective than cold-calling.

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The construction industry has had a rough few years. After the economy dipped and the Great Recession began, a lot of construction and housing projects were suspended or shut down, and the industry was easily one of the hardest hit. Because of this, many are apprehensive to start their own construction firms, and while construction is slowly picking up, one of the biggest concerns entrepreneurs in this industry have is how to protect themselves if the economy dips again. But if you start off on the right foot, and take a few precautions, you can run a successful business in the construction industry.

How do you start a construction company?

Construction is a bit different than other industries. For one, you can’t just file for a ‘Doing Business As’ name and start building houses. Continue reading →

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Obviously, we struggled a little bit with the letter X. There aren’t a lot of topics that lend themselves well to this particular letter, so unless we wanted to discuss the ins and outs of running a xylophone business, we had to expand beyond our normal vocabulary. Enter xenodochial, a long word that essentially means being nice to strangers – a quality that businesses must exhibit if they ever hope to attract new customers! But for simplicity’s sake, you can also think of X as standing for (e)Xcellent customer service.

Truly the most confusing letter.

There are a lot of theories on how to best serve your customers, but in reality there is no one answer on how to provide good customer service. Instead, there are multiple factors that have to built into how a business interacts with its customers.Continue reading →

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This week on the ABC’s of MyCorp, we’re focusing on the letter “O” for operating agreement. State laws are fairly lax when it comes to operating agreements – a handful of states require that an operating agreement be drafted, and even fewer require that Limited Liability Companies hold onto written copies of it. So, typically, LLCs choose to either forgo creating an operating agreement, or simply say that their operating agreement was agreed to orally.

However, the lack of government oversight for operating agreements does not make them any less important or valuable. Even if your LLC was created in a state without laws governing operating agreements, it is still a good idea to draft one and keep copies of it on hand for a few important reasons.Continue reading →

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We are back with our ABC’s of business – hopefully you didn’t miss us too much! This week the letter is L, and how could we not take that as a sign and talk about a couple of our favorite legal structures? Many business choose to putt around as a sole proprietorship, clinging onto their default structure. However, choosing to forgo an incorporation or LLC formation may put your personal property at risk if the business does not work out. To avoid this, consider incorporating your business, or forming an LLC.Continue reading →

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This might have been just a little bit obvious, but Corporation is in our name so you have to expect at least a few posts about the topic. We’ve done a C is for C-Corp already that explored the benefits of that particular business structure, but what about incorporation in general? Why put in the effort? What does it offer a small businesses? Continue reading →

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Deadlines are definitely a necessary evil – no one likes to feel the pressure of a deadline on their back but without them, we would procrastinate. And procrastinate. And procrastinate. This week on our ABC’s for small business blogging segment, F is for filing, and meeting, deadlines.

We need a bit of a push if we ever expect to get anything done. And, for many, that “deadline” is the end of the year. It’s a simple enough deadline, and gives you 364 days of wiggle-room. We hear from a lot of people that say they want to start a business by the end of the year. They have an idea, they have a plan, and they just need to actually get that paperwork filed and their business opened. So they put it off, month after month, because they gave themselves until the end of the year. Continue reading →